East Cobb Crime & Fire

Woman stabbed to death at same hotel where infant was killed

by

For the second time this week, Cobb Police are investigating a homicide at a motel off Windy Hill Road.Cobb Police, Holly Springs Road suspicious person, East Cobb crime forum

Cobb Police Sgt. Eric Smith said that Amatrian Hawkins, 45, of Atlanta, died of multiple stab wounds early Friday morning after officers were called to the Budgetel Inn at 4900 Circle 75 Parkway.

Smith said that another woman, Janiyah Jenkins, 19, of Atlanta, suffered a severe laceration to her right hand. Both women were taken to unspecified hospitals, but Amatrian Hawkins was pronounced dead, Smith said.

The younger woman was released, and Cobb Police have charged Frank Moore, 46, of Atlanta, with felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony. He is being held at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center without bond, according to his booking report.

Smith said that Moore had fled the scene and was arrested by Atlanta Police and “was familiar to the victims in this case.”

Police said four men have been arrested for a shooting that killed a nine-month-old girl at the same Budgetel earlier this week.

Police are continuing to investigate the Hawkins murder, and said that anyone with information is asked to Cobb Police Major CrimesUnit at (770) 499-3945.

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Police: Infant killed in Windy Hill Road-area motel shooting

by

Cobb Police said Wednesday a 9-month-old girl was killed on Tuesday after gunfire broke out in a motel in the Windy Hill Road area, and four men have been arrested for her murder.

Northeast Cobb car crash, Cops on Donut Shops

According to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office, Ladarrius Brown, 22, of Smyrna and Jayvion Young, 23, of an East Cobb address in the Hamby Acres subdivision, are being held at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center without bond on charges of felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

Two other men are facing related charges and are at the Cobb jail wiothout bond.

Camron Harris, 22, of Smyrna, is charged making a false statement and tempering with evidence, according to his booking report.

Anthony Smith, 22, of Penny Lane is East Cobb, also is charged with tampering with evidence.

Cobb Police Sgt. Shenise Barner said in a release that the unidentified victim “was beyond lifesaving measures” when officers arrived at the Budgetel Inn, 4900 Circle 75 Parkway, around 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Her mother reported the child had been shot, and police said the girl was later pronounced dead on the scene.

The motel is located near Windy Hill Road and Interstate 75, and police didn’t indicate what may have prompted the shooting.

Arrest warrants for Young and Brown state they shot at one one another and that the infant was hit by gunfire, causing her death, possibly in an exchange between them.

Harris’ warrant states that he took Brown’s gun and “disposed of said firearm to conceal it from law enforcement.” Furthermore, according to the warrants, Harris lied to officers to prevent them from finding the gun.

Brown and Harris were arrested at the motel; Young’s booking report states that he was arrested at an apartment complex on Powers Ferry Road.

Police said the Cobb Police Major Crimes Unit is continuing to investigate the shooting and that anyone with information is asked to call (770) 499-3945.

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Police: Man exposed himself to minor at East Cobb LA Fitness

by

A 55-year-old man remains in custody after being charged with exposing himself to a minor at an LA Fitness center on Sandy Plains Road last month.Northeast Cobb car crash, Cops on Donut Shops

An arrest warrant for Carlos Ceron, of a Powers Ferry Road address, states that during the afternoon of Aug. 30, he masturbated in front of a mirror in a locker room, and that the victim, who was under 16, stated that the suspect “was looking at him and smiling.”

Ceron has been charged with a felony count of child molestation and is being held at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center without bond.

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Police: Man pulls gun on taxi driver, arrested by SWAT unit

by

Marietta Police said that they’ve arrested a man accused of robbing a taxi driver at a residence in an East Marietta neighborhood Sunday following an overnight standoff that involved SWAT officers.Marietta Police

Police said that Jevelious Bryant, 40, is facing charges of aggravated assault, simple battery and being a felon in the possession of a firearm.

According to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records, Bryant was taken into custody Sunday night at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center and is being held without bond.

Police said that Bryant is accused of pulling out a gun and aiming it at a taxi driver who had dropped Bryant off at a home early Sunday morning on Carolyn Street, located off Wallace Road near the North Marietta Parkway and Interstate 75.

The driver had confronted Bryant, whom police said refused to pay for the taxi ride. Police said the driver ran away on foot and hid until Bryant went into the residence.

Police said officers were called to the scene and couldn’t get Bryant to answer the door. Marietta Police SWAT officers were called to the scene around 5 a.m., and discovered that the home was subdivided into apartments with separate entrances, police said.

Police said that all of the occupants of the building were evacuated from by 7:30 a.m. Sunday, and they arrested Bryant after obtaining a search warrant.

Bryant also faces misdemeanor charges of theft of services and marijuana possession, according to his booking report.

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Police charge 3 suspects in East Cobb Waffle House brawl

by

xSandy Plains Road Waffle House employees attacked by teens

Cobb Police said Friday that three teenagers have been charged for their involvement in a brawl at an East Cobb Waffle House Sunday in which an employee was beaten and injured.

Police said Sammy Dodd (17, Ball Ground), Daniel Riley (18, Calhoun), and Blake Talley-Stewart (17, Roswell) are facing misdemeanor charges that include battery, disorderly conduct, criminal trespass and affray.

Talley-Stewart was taken to the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, after initially being apprehended by Roswell Police. He was charged with a misdemeanor account of disorderly conduct on Thursday and was released Friday on an $1,870 bond.

Dodd was charged with battery, disorderly conduct, criminal trespass, criminal trespass (damage) and affray and was taken into custody by the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Thursday.

Riley also was charged with battery, disorderly conduct, criminal trespass, criminal trespass (damage) and affray.

Riley was booked into the Cobb jail Friday afternoon and released early Saturday morning on a $5,720 bond, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office booking reports.

In a statement Friday, Cobb Police did not indicate what led to the assaults, which took place around 2 a.m. Sunday at the Waffle House at 2720 Sandy Plains Road.

Videos shared on social media but that have since been deleted showed several teens entering the restaurant, then threatening employees.

A few seconds into one of the clips, one of the teens began throwing items at an employee behind the counter, then jumped over the counter and began physically assaulting the employee in a prolonged fistfight.

Police said Friday that Talley-Stewart “created a disturbance in the restaurant” and that Dodd and Riley are alleged to have assaulted Waffle House employees.

According to an arrest warrant, Talley-Stewart “threw a plate full of food and a To-Go drink cup toward the fight that took place behind the counter” that was captured on a surveillance camera.

The warrant states that the terms of his bond include that he “shall not return to any Waffle House in Cobb County.”

Police did not provide further details of the incident in their update on Friday.

Witnesses told police that that the teens who came to the restaurant had been asked to leave but refused.

The situation escalated when the teens “began arguing with staff, knocking plates from the counter, and jumping over the service area into the kitchen,” police said Monday.

“One victim was placed in a headlock and struck multiple times in the head. Several patrons attempted to intervene,” according to the initial statement provided by Cobb Police.

Police reiterated Friday that the teens were not students at nearby Sprayberry High School, as some social media speculation had suggested, and that the suspects “have no affiliation with any schools in the Cobb County School District.”

Related:

 

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Woman’s remains found along Chattahoochee in 1984 identified

by

Cobb Police said Monday that the remains of a woman whose body was found along the Chattahoochee River 41 years ago have been finally identified.Woman's remains found along Chattahoochee in 1984 identified

Police said that the woman’s name was Veronica Jane Miller, and she would have been 61 years old. She was from Mableton, close to where her body was found near the river on May 10, 1984.

Miller was 20 years old at the time of her death, which was ruled to be a homicide, and her family has been notified of the identification, Cobb Police said Monday.

A combination of old-fashioned investigating techniques and more recent technology helped authorities identify Miller, whose case was recently reopened by the Cobb Police Crimes Against Persons Cold Case Unit.

According to DNASolves, a website that tracks such cases and that uses the testing platforms of Othram Labs, a private forensic genetic genealogy laboratory and technology company, this is the 24th Georgia “Jane Doe” identification, and is the second-oldest.

It’s also the second such cold-case identification of a murder victim in Cobb County in as many years.

Last year, Marietta Police identified the remains of a woman found dead in 1993 at a construction site off Scufflegrit Road as Patricia Howard, who had gone missing in 1980, shortly after moving from Los Angeles.

For years, Miller had been known to investigators only as Cobb County Jane Doe (1984), and in 2012 her case was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System database, after a traditional DNA profiling process turned up no matches.

Police said that Miller’s body was found in a wooded area near the Chattahoochee three months after her death, and it was transported to the Cobb Medical Examiner’s Office.

But the autopsy did not reveal an identification, nor the cause or manner of her death. DNA testing was submitted to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Miller’s DNA profile was entered into the CODIS (Combined DNA Index System), NDIS (National DNA Index System), as well as the NAMUS databases.

“For decades, no positive matches were found,” Cobb Police said in the release, which said that as the case was reopened, Othram Labs, which works with law enforcement agencies, was consulted to develop a more sophisticated profile that initially identified distant relatives of the deceased.

“However, these results were insufficient for conclusive identification,” police added.

Further police investigations yielded a DNA sample from Miller’s possible half-sister, and Othram Labs “confirmed a close maternal match between the sample and the decedent’s DNA establishing a strong familial link.”

Cobb Police said that Cobb Chief Medical Examiner Christopher Gulledge reviewed the available evidence—”including genetic genealogy results, DNA confirmation, and supporting testimony from family”—and confirmed Miller’s identity.

Police said the case remains under active investigation and anyone with information is asked to call the Cobb County Police Department Major Crimes Unit at (770) 499-3945.

Related:

 

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Sandy Plains Road Waffle House employees attacked by teens

by
xSandy Plains Road Waffle House employees attacked by teens
Screengrab from a surveillance camera shows a Waffle House employee (in blue shirt) in a fight with a teen who jumped the counter, as other teens look on.

Videos posted on social media over the weekend show a group of teenagers physically attacking employees at a Waffle House in East Cobb.

The videos—both of which have since been deleted—showed several teens at a Waffle House at 2720 Sandy Plains Road threatening and then attacking employees.

Cobb Police said in a release Monday that the incident occurred early Sunday morning, near 2 a.m., but didn’t what prompted the attacks.

East Cobb News was sent links to the videos posted on Reddit and Nextdoor and viewed them before they were taken down.

A few seconds into one of the clips, one of the teens began throwing items at an employee behind the counter, then he and another teen jumped over the counter and began physically assaulting the employee in a prolonged fistfight.

Several other teens looked on from just inside the entrance, and police said that witnesses told them that that the teens had been asked to leave but refused.

The situation escalated when the teens “began arguing with staff, knocking plates from the counter, and jumping over the service area into the kitchen,” police said in the release.

“One victim was placed in a headlock and struck multiple times in the head. Several patrons attempted to intervene.”

One of the social media postings alleged that the teens had come to the Waffle House after attending nearby Sprayberry High School’s home football game on Friday.

But police said in the release that the incident was two days after that game, and “at this time, no direct connection that these suspects are current, or former Sprayberry High School students has been confirmed.”

Police did not indicate if anyone has been charged or arrested, but said that “detectives are working to identify all individuals involved.”

Anyone with information is asked Cobb County Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Unit at (770)499-4184.

Related:

 

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Crime Watch: Three Northeast Cobb restaurants burglarized

by

East Cobb Crime Watch: Fat Lady Baker, other businesses robbed

Nancy McKinney, owner of the Fat Lady Baker cafe in Northeast Cobb, tells us that she was among the restaurantEast Cobb Crime Watch: Fat Lady Baker, other businesses robbed victims of what’s apparently a burglary spree earlier this week.

She sent us the surveillance photo of who she said is the suspect, and who “used a crowbar to get through the back doors and stole cash” and was hopeful of someone being able to identify him.

Another nearby business was robbed as well, the Aapka Food Adda Indian restaurant that’s adjacent in the same shopping center, she said. McKinney mentioned that a Mexican restaurant in the Shallowford-Trickum area also was robbed, “but the police were not sure if that is related yet.”

Sgt. Eric Smith, public information officer with Cobb Police, told East Cobb News that detectives are investigating to see if the three restaurant burglaries are related, and that a suspect has not been identified.

He said the other robbery was at El Serranto Taqueria, at 2520 Shallowford Road.

Fat Lady Baker sells bakery products and prepared meals to the public, and is open during daytime hours Tuesday-Saturday.

It’s in the same retail center with other small businesses, including Montana’s Bar and Grill and the Mzizi coffee shop.

Related:

 

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Update: Fundraiser started for owner of Chin Chin restaurant

by
Update: Fundraiser started for owner of Chin Chin restaurant
Inside the burned-out remains of the Chin Chin restaurant, which is considered a total loss. Photos by Sabrina Gao.

Following Tuesday’s devastating fire that destroyed the longstanding Chin Chin restaurant in East Cobb, the daughter of the restaurant’s owner has started a fundraiser.

Sabrina Gao set up a GoFundMe page and said of her mother, Jasmine Chen, that “I would really like to surprise her and try to help her rebuild everything.”

Chen has owned Chin Chin for the last 15 years, and was called to the scene in the early morning hours Tuesday as the standalone restaurant on 617 Johnson Ferry Road burned to ground.

Cobb Fire said 911 calls came shortly after 1 a.m. In her GoFundMe message, Gao said that she woke up to her mother on a phone call telling her about the fire, and she soon followed.

“I took my sister with me and drove to her restaurant at 2 in the morning. . . . My family is devastated.”

Gao, who attended Walton High School, said the restaurant became something of a second home for her and her siblings, who grew up without their father around.

“It makes me sad to think about how my mom feels. . . . My mom would always take me and my siblings to ChinChin to watch after us since she didn’t want us to be home alone.”

Gao has set a fundraising goal of $15,000, and has raised nearly $2,000 in the first day.

Cobb Fire said the restaurant’s roof collapsed and the fire spread quickly, and with more than 30 firefighters on the scene the blaze took nearly five hours to put out. The cause is still being investigated, according to district chief Justin Green.

“She is lost right now without a clue on what to do,” Gao said of her mother. “Lots of people lost their jobs today, but my family and I lost our homes today.”

Related:

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

 

East Cobb’s Chin Chin Chinese restaurant destroyed by fire

by

UPDATED:

The daughter of the restaurant’s owner has started a fundraiser: “I would really like to surprise her and try to help her rebuild everything.”

ORIGINAL REPORT:

A fire has destroyed most of the standalone building that has been the home of the Chin Chin Chinese restaurant in East Cobb for nearly three decades.

The early Tuesday morning blaze consumed most the restaurant’s facility at 617 Johnson Ferry Road.

It’s located just south of Lower Roswell Road and across from the entrance to Parkaire Landing Shopping Center, in between a Waffle House and Dunkin Donuts.

Cobb District Fire Chief Justin Green told East Cobb News that a 911 call was received around 1 a.m. Tuesday, and firefighters arrived on the scene a few minutes later to find smoke and fire coming through the roof of the building.

Crews were inside when the roof collapsed, and the fire took five hours to contain, with more than 300,000 gallons of water needed to put it out.

Green said around 35 firefighters and other personnel were on the scene—five engines, three ladder trucks, a rescue vehicle and two battalion chiefs—and that no one was injured.

Two lanes of Johnson Ferry Road southbound were closed while fire crews were on the scene early Tuesday morning.

Green said the cause of the fire is still being investigated, and that it might take longer than is usual due to the roof collapse.

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Cobb Police: Fired officer exposed himself at Kincaid ES

by

Cobb Police: Fired officer exposed himself at Kincaid ES

A Cobb Police officer fired this week for distributing obscene materials, public indecency and violating his oath of office is alleged to have committed those offenses while on duty in Precinct 4 in East Cobb.

An arrest warrant for Matthew Abbott, 36, said that the offenses occurred in February and in June and included sending electronic messages depicting child pornography and exposing himself in public, including the parking lot at Kincaid Elementary School in Northeast Cobb earlier this summer.

Cobb Police said Thursday that Abbott was “relieved of duty” after a Georgia Bureau of Investigation probe, and after being notified by the Utah Attorney General’s Office about an investigation identifying him.

Interim Cobb Police Chief Dan Ferrell said Thursday that “the allegations in this case are extremely disturbing and do not reflect the values of our department,” but neither Cobb Police nor the GBI detailed the charges in their public statements.

Abbott was arrested at his Marietta home Thursday morning on one count of violating his oath of office, a felony, and one count of distribution of obscene materials and two counts of public indecency, which are misdemeanors. He remains in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center without bond, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office booking reports.

His arrest warrant said that on Feb. 5, Abbott sent electronic messages “describing explicit sexual acts with children between the ages of 8 and 12 years old, knowing the obscene nature of said material” to an unidentified person while on duty at the Precinct 4 headquarters on Lower Roswell Road.

Abbott also is accused of “performing an act of lewd exposure of his sexual organs in a public place” while on duty in the parking lot at Kincaid ES on the afternoon of June 2. The warrant doesn’t state if anyone else was present, but that date was during the Cobb County School District summer break.

The warrant also alleges that on June 9, Abbott also exposed himself and masturbated in the parking lot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on New Macland Road in Powder Springs, also while on duty.

Abbott could be facing further charges, according to Cobb Police, who said they have turned over all investigative duties to the GBI “to ensure a fair and impartial process.”

Related:

 

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Cobb Police officer fired amid ‘extremely disturbing’ probe

by

The Cobb Police Department said Thursday it has arrested one of its own officers and terminated him following an investigation into what the interim chief is saying are “extremely disturbing” allegations.Northeast Cobb car crash, Cops on Donut Shops

Officer Aaron Wilson said in a release that Matthew Abbott has been “relieved of duty” after being taken into custody Thursday morning on charges of violating his oath of office, distribution of obscene material and public indecency.

Wilson did not provide specifics about the case, but said Cobb Police were notified by the Utah Attorney General’s Office about an investigation identifying Abbott, and that Cobb authorities then contacted the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is conducting its own probe.

A GBI release issued late Thursday afternoon said that the charges involve child exploitation. The GBI said its probe was conducted in connection with Cobb Police and the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children’s Task Force “and led to a search warrant for Abbott’s home and his arrest.”

The GBI didn’t offer further details except to say that its investigation “is part of the ongoing effort by the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, housed within the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit, to identify those involved in the trade of child sexual abuse material.”

Abbott, 36, was arrested at his home in southwest Marietta, according to his booking report.

According to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records, Abbott was taken into custody late Thursday morning and is still being booked at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center.

Interim Cobb Police Chief Dan Ferrell said that “the allegations in this case are extremely disturbing and do not reflect the values of our department. While the legal process moves forward, the officer has been relieved of duty, and we have initiated our own internal investigation. We will follow the facts, uphold due process, and take the actions necessary to maintain the trust of our community.”

Abbott could be facing further charges, according to Wilson, who said Cobb Police have turned over all investigative duties to the GBI “to ensure a fair and impartial process.”

Wilson said that the Cobb Police Department “is cooperating fully with investigators to ensure accountability. We are committed to full transparency and will continue to provide updates as this investigation moves forward.”

Related:

 

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

 

 

77-year-old man attacked at NE Cobb home; suspect arrested

by

UPDATED, 10:40 A.M. THURSDAY:Northeast Cobb car crash, Cops on Donut Shops

Cobb Police said this morning that they have taken a 29-year-old man into custody for attacking an elderly man at a home on Sandy Plains Road.

Officer Aaron Wilson said that Onur Yenihayat, of a Northeast Cobb address, was pulled over on Shallowford Road shortly after 2 a.m. Thursday after his vehicle was identified from license-plate recognition cameras, after having left the incident scene.

Wilson said that Precinct 4 officers were called to a home Wednesday afternoon in the 3000 block of Sandy Plains Road, near Bryant Lane, after receiving 911 reports that someone had been hit with a vehicle.

But when police arrived, they saw a 77-year-old man on the sidewalk, bleeding from the head, after initial incorrect reports on social media that there had been a shooting, police said.

Wilson said a preliminary investigation determined that the victim, who was not named, had returned to the home Wednesday afternoon to find the suspect in his bedroom without permission.

The victim fled outside, to the sidewalk, where he was found by police, who said they saw the suspect go back inside the home, Wilson said.

An arrest warrant for Yenihayat said the victim had been hit in the head multiple times with a piece of wood, and was bleeding from his nose.

Wilson said that police then set up a parameter around the home and tried to establish contact with the suspect, but got no response. Cobb Police called in K9 and VIPER  (Violent Incident Prevention and Early Response) units and executed a search warrant to discover that the suspect was no longer in the home, according to police.

Wilson said police obtained an arrest warrant for aggravated assault and other charges.

According to Yenihayat’s booking report at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, he is being without bond on that single count.

Wilson said an investigation is continuing and that anyone with information is asked to contact the Cobb PoliceMajor Crimes Unit at 770-499-3945.

ORIGINAL REPORT:

Cobb Police said Wednesday afternoon that a person has been injured at a home in Northeast Cobb, but said social media postings indicating that the incident involved a shooting are incorrect.

On the department’s Facebook page, Cobb Police said around 5 p.m. Wednesday the person’s injuries “are not from gunfire,” but provided no further details.

The individual was not identified, and police said that the residence was in the area of Sandy Plains Road and Ebenezer Road.

WSB-TV reported that one of its helicopters few over the scene and reported seeing nine police vehicles, and that the person injured is being treated.

The scene is near Addison Elementary School, and the television station said that it was told bu the Cobb County School District said that “the police activity was not related to the school” and “that there is no threat to any school campuses.”

Earlier Wednesday afternoon, some local social media postings urged motorists to avoid the area along Sandy Plains Road between Karen Lane and Bryant Lane, which is in the same area.

Cobb Police said in the Facebook posting that “officers are still on scene and we will provide updates once the incident concludes and the preliminary investigation is complete.”

East Cobb News has left a message with Cobb Police seeking more information.

Related:

 

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Suspects arrested in 2024 murder on Powers Ferry Road

by

Cobb Police said Monday that two men have been arrested in Pennsylvania as suspects in the shooting death of another man who was found in a car on Powers Ferry Road last year.Northeast Cobb car crash, Cops on Donut Shops

Cobb Police Sgt. Eric Smith said that Jayden Hooks, 21, and Malik Drake, 23, are awaiting extradition to Cobb County to face felony murder and aggravated assault charges in the killing of Curtis Coleman, 43, of Powder Springs.

Police said that Coleman was found shot to death on March 21, 2024, in a vehicle parked in the 2200 block of Powers Ferry Road. That’s near the intersection of Akers Mill Road, and police were called there in response to reports of an injured person.

In a release issued late Monday afternoon, Cobb Police didn’t offer any more details of what may have led to the shooting, which was investigated by its Major Crimes Unit.

Nor did Smith, in the release, indicate how the suspects were identified or captured, except to say that Hooks and Drake were taken into custody without “significant incident in Pennsylvania by U. S. Marshals.”

Related:

 

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

East Cobb resident promoted to GBI chemistry section manager

by

East Cobb resident promoted to GBI chemistry section manager

Submitted information and photo about an East Cobb resident:

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announces the promotion of Nicole Astor to Manager of the Chemistry Section of the GBI Crime Lab. Astor will be responsible for the supervision of staff in the Chemistry Section at the GBI Headquarters Laboratory, as well as operations within the statewide Chemistry discipline.

“I am proud to announce the promotion of Nicole Astor to Manager of the GBI Chemistry Section,” said GBI Director Chris Hosey. “Since joining the GBI in 1998, Nicole has served in multiple roles with dedication, professionalism, and a passion for forensic science and public service. Her wealth of experience and proven leadership make her exceptionally well-suited to lead the Chemistry Section.” 

“Nicole’s promotion is a reflection of her years of commitment to the mission of the GBI and her outstanding contributions to the field of forensic chemistry,” said GBI Crime Lab Division Director Cleveland Miles. “Her leadership, integrity, and deep institutional knowledge will be tremendous assets in her new role.” 

Astor began her career at the GBI in May 1998 as a crime lab scientist in the Chemistry Section of the Headquarters Lab. She was promoted to statewide Chemistry Technical Leader in 2010 and Assistant Chemistry Section Manager in 2016.

Astor graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in 1997. She obtained her professional certification as a Technical Specialist in Drug Analysis with the American Board of Criminalistics in 2010.

Astor has been a member of the Southern Association of Forensic Scientists since 2000 and served as a Member-At-Large on their Board of Directors for approximately five years. She has been a member of the Clandestine Laboratory Investigating Chemists since 2009.

Astor also served as a Member-At-Large on the Board of Directors for the American Board of Criminalistics from 2016 to 2019, and she has been the GBI representative on the National Institute of Justice Forensic Science Research and Development Technology Working Group (TWG) – Controlled Substances/Toxicology since 2014.

Astor is originally from Petoskey, Michigan, and currently lives in Marietta, GA. 

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is comprised of three primary divisions: the GBI Crime Laboratory, the Investigative Division, and the Georgia Crime Information Center. The GBI has over 900 employees and a current budget of $162.6 million.

Related:

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

KSU art professor charged with aggravated assault in NE Cobb

by

Cobb Police have charged a woman with aggravated assault after being accused of dragging another woman and a juvenile with her vehicle during an incident at a Northeast Cobb home last week.Northeast Cobb car crash, Cops on Donut Shops

According to an arrest warrant, Christen Ericsson-Penfold is facing one felony count of aggravated assault in the incident, which took place last Friday.

A Cobb Sheriff’s Office booking report said Ericsson-Penfold, 43, has a home address in Woodstock, and Kennesaw State University lists her as a part-time art instructor.

The warrant said that around 4:45 p.m. last Friday, Ericsson-Penfold was behind the wheel of a black Chrysler minivan parked near a home on Candlewood Way, with a woman and a juvenile girl standing at the driver’s side rear door, and that the sliding door was open.

The residence is located in a neighborhood off Blackwell Road near Shallowford Road.

Ericsson-Penfold attempted to close the sliding door and then hit the gas pedal, pulling the van forward and dragging the woman and the juvenile, causing them to fall on the ground, according to the warrant.

The warrant said that the woman was holding the juvenile on her hip, and that she suffered abrasions to both knees, her right toe and left elbow, and that the girl also had abrasions her left foot, left ankle, and right elbow.

Police said in the warrant both victims were bleeding, but didn’t indicate if any medical treatment was rendered.

The warrant also didn’t say what might have prompted the incident. The booking report said that Ericsson-Penfold was taken into custody at Cobb Police Precinct 6 off Sandy Plains Road later Friday and she was released on a $11,220 bond two days later.

Related:

 

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Teen charged with arson at Johnson Ferry Road gas station

by

Teen charged with arson at Johnson Ferry Road gas station

An East Cobb teenager was arrested last week after Cobb Police said he tried to set fire to a gas station on Johnson Ferry Road.

According to an arrest warrant, Ian Robert Simmons, 18, threw a Molotov cocktail at the Shell station at 2898 Johnson Ferry Road on July 9.

The warrant said that the device melted a trash can and chair next to the station’s convenience store around 12:45 p.m. on July 9, and which also melted a curb on a sidewalk and caused black residue on the side of the building.

The warrant also said Simmons used a hammer to shatter the glass door of the building but did not indicate a motive for the attack.

According to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office, Simmons, of a Lassiter Road address, was arrested at his residence several hours later and taken into custody.

He was charged with a felony count of arson and a felony count of second-degree criminal property damage. Booking reports show that Simmons was released from the Cobb Adult Detention Centeron July 11 on a $5,720 bond.

Related:

 

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Father, 72, arrested after shooting son at East Cobb home

by

An elderly East Cobb man has been charged with shooting his son in a domestic dispute last weekend, Cobb Police said.Northeast Cobb car crash, Cops on Donut Shops

Cobb Police public information officer Sgt. Eric Smith told East Cobb News that Bernard Virgilio, 72, was arrested on four counts of felony aggravated assault on Sunday night during an argument with his son, Wesley Virgilio, 43, at the family home on Pauls Way.

That’s in the Barbara Estates neighborhood off Holly Springs Road near Davis Road.

Cobb Sheriff’s Office records show that Bernard Virgilio was booked into the Cobb Adult Detention Center late Sunday and he remains there without bond.

Smith said that Cobb Police were called to the Pauls Way home around 7:20 p.m. Sunday on a report that someone had been shot. Smith said that when officers arrived at the scene, they discovered Wesley Virgilio with gunshot wounds but that he declined medical attention.

According to Bernard Virgilio’s arrest warrant, he fired at his son four times with a .38-caliber Smith and Wesson revolver, striking the younger man in the right forearm and the back of the head.

Neither Smith nor the arrest warrant explained what the dispute was about, but Smith said the Cobb Police Special Victims Unit was called in because of the family relationship.

Smith said that the incident continues to be investigated and that anyone with information is asked to contact the Cobb County Police Department Special Victims Unit at 770-801-3470.

Related:

 

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Memorial service for NE Cobb woman killed in murder-suicide

by

A celebration of life service has been scheduled for a Northeast Cobb woman police said was the victim of a murder-suicide earlier this month.

Memorial service for NE Cobb woman killed in murder-suicide
Daphne Duplessis Saddler

The obituary for Daphne Duplessis Saddler, 38, said the service will take place July 5 at Mayes-Ward-Dobbins Funeral Home in Marietta.

According to police, she was shot and killed in her home on June 7 by a man who also lived there. He was identified as Sam Mills, 44, and police said after killing Saddler, he turned the gun on himself. Police have not said how, or if, they were related.

Two of her three children named in the obituary have a last name of Mills.

Saddler bought a home in the Ramblewood subdivision near Sprayberry High School in 2021, and was a board member of the McCleskey Family-East Cobb YMCA, according to the obituary.

She was an attorney who worked for the Morgan and Morgan and John Foy personal injury law firms before starting her own law practice, the Brick Law Firm, in the Cumberland area in 2024.

Saddler grew up in Boston and graduated from the University of Massachusetts, and earned a law degree from the University of Florida.

“In her personal time, she enjoyed running 5Ks, exploring art exhibits, attending comedy shows, and listening to music of all genres, from classical and pop to Haitian kompa,” her obituary states. “Her favorite moments were spent outdoors with her three children, biking, hiking, skating, and traveling together as a family.”

The obituary states that a visitation will precede the memorial service on July 5, and that Saddler will be entombed at Kennesaw Memorial Park.

Related:

 

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

One man killed, woman wounded in apartment shooting near KSU

by

One man killed, woman wounded in apartment shooting near KSU

Cobb Police said that a man has been shot and killed and a woman has been hospitalized after being shot during an argument at an apartment complex Sunday night near the Kennesaw State University campus.

In a release Monday morning, Cobb Police Officer Aaron Wilson said Jalen Parker, 24, of Kennesaw, was pronounced dead at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital after being shot several times.

Wilson said Antoinette Hammonds, 40, also of Kennesaw, was taken to Kennestone, and is in stable condition.

Anthony Lockett, 22, of Kennesaw, was charged and arrested for murder and aggravated assault, police said.

According to his booking report, Lockett is being held at the Cobb Adult Detention Center without bond and his home address is listed as at an apartment complex on Hidden Forest Drive in Northeast Cobb.

Wilson said that police were called to the scene of Bixby Kennesaw (3021 George Busbee Parkway) around 8:15 p.m. Sunday and found a woman shot in the parking lot. She was later identified as Hammonds, the suspect’s mother, police said.

The complex is located across the street from Fifth Third Stadium and close to Town Center Mall, and primarily serves as off-campus housing.

Inside an apartment, according to Wilson, officers found a man shot multiple times, and he was later identified as Parker.

Police said there was an argument inside the apartment, but they didn’t say what it was about.

Police said Lockett was present during the argument and left the scene, then “returned with family members, confronted people inside with a gun, and then fired multiple shots inside the apartment,” striking Parker.

Someone else in the apartment returned fire, according to police, and Hammonds was shot in the exchange. Police said she was taken to the parking lot where first responders found her and took her to Kennestone.

Wilson said the investigation is continuing and anyone with information should contact the Cobb County Police Major Crimes Unit at 770-499-3945 or Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta at 404-577-TIPS (8477).

Related:

 

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!